Marijuana busts on the rise in Texas during record year

After a long year of busting one after the other of outdoor marijuana growing operations, its turning out to be a record year for cannabis seizures.

Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety seized more than 133,400 pounds of marijuana in the Houston area from 2010 to 2014 – a 57 percent increase over the previous five-year period, according to data obtained from the agency.

Of the more than 93,800 pounds of marijuana seized by DPS officers statewide this year, about 16,400 pounds – or nearly one-fifth – came from Houston-area suburbs.

The state DPS’s figures don’t include seizures by local law enforcement agencies. But federal, state and local officers have eliminated more than 255,000 plants this year, which is 100,000 more than last year.

Stephen Carter

Stephen Carter is a journalist and information technology specialist living in Waco, Texas. He has been working with the cannabis movement since 2009. He founded Texas Cannabis Report in 2013 to bring Texans accurate cannabis related news.